World of Masks

Chapter 9

Translator: Seven

Editor: Ana_Banana

Puk.

The body of a rabbit, who had been running to leave a few bite marks on Jin-suk’s body, was hit by the short sword and sent flying. You could imagine the performance of the weapon when it sent the rabbit flying like a club, instead of cutting it.

As he thought that he should change the short sword the moment he got enough money, Jin-suk ran to the rabbit which was still stunned from the blow, and stabbed the sword into its head.

Pagak.

It always felt good to pierce the skull.

Jin-suk, who picked up the still wriggling rabbit that was leaking blood and brains, pondered for a moment.

Should he sell this one, or make it experience?

After thinking for a while, Jin-suk decided to sell it, so he put the body of the rabbit into the bracelet.

Feeling like hunting some more, he looked around. There were no more rabbits to be seen.

There were white shapes that seemed to be rabbits in the distance, but Jin-suk’s surroundings were clean.

Rumble.

“I should sell the meat.”.

In the end he decided to head to the village, rubbing his stomach that was growling angrily in hunger.

It was 5 copper coins per kilogram at the store in the village. After earning around 1 silver coin, he bought two loaves of the cheapest bread from the bakery before heading to the only smithy in the village.

“…I shouldn’t have bought this.”

He forced himself to chew the bread that was so hard he didn’t know if he was chewing on a piece of coal, or a rock.

His jaw quickly became sore.

Jin-suk, who thought that the bread in his hand might do more damage than his short sword, finally arrived at the blacksmith. Determined to increase his strength so that he could chew through bread like this.

“Excuse me.”

“Huh? Oh a customer.”

In the corner was a middle aged man who was lighting a fire in a furnace.

The man was obviously the blacksmith, had a large body packed with muscles, giving Jin-suk the subconscious feeling that he would not be able to win with his present ability.

“I came to look for a sword.”

“Ah you must be the novice traveler that Lancaster mentioned.”

“…there are rumors already?”

“Well, it is a small town after all. Besides, that grocery store owner has never been known for his tight lips.”

The way he talked with a bright smile on his face made him seem like a good person.

However he only laughed for a moment before it instead became a frown.

“Hmm. Well you see. Our forge is specialized in making farm equipment. We don’t have any sword molds. Because this is such a small village, there isn’t anyone who would need a dedicated weapon.”

‘Wait a minute.’

The blacksmith took out a stool and brought it to a shelf. From the top, he took down what seemed to be an old box, covered with dust.

The blacksmith swept the dust off of the box before placing it on the counter.

“I brought this when I first moved to the town. At that time, I thought I’d be able to sell it. I was very young then.”

The blacksmith removed the lid. Then he stepped away. Jin-suk peeked at the contents of the box, wondering what was happening.

In the box was a sword that seemed to be a bit old. It was in the form of a longsword. The only drawback was that the blade had lost its luster and was now covered in rust.

“…you can’t use this.”

Jin-suk also agreed with the blacksmith who covered the lid of the box again.

“…I’ve got iron bars, sickles and axes.”

“…so you don’t have any swords.”

Jin-suk sighed.

It seemed that he would have to suffer with the short sword until he left this beginner town.

The grasslands in front of the village had become boring for now, so Jin-suk was trying to strengthen himself so that he could try to climb the mountains behind the village.

Should he just use an axe?

Jin-suk was a bit worried.

“…no, there is one.”

“It’s a bit of a stretch for a beginner to buy it though…”

As the blacksmith muttered, he went to get another box from the side and this time, the box was clean.

The blacksmith opened the box. Inside was also a longsword. However it was visibly different from the previous piece of garbage.

“This one is a little expensive, so I’ve been holding it for myself. I bought this from the city. I never showed it to the villagers. I’m only showing you because you are a traveler.”

“How much is it?”

“Only gotta give me 50 silver.”

It was expensive.

The price matched, but it wasn’t a price he could afford. So there was no need for him to think about it right now.

Jin-suk walked out of the blacksmith, his face showing his desire to be it at a later time.

He needed a shield, but it wasn’t something that he would be able to get in this village.

Jin-suk stretched, looking at the slowly setting sun.

A man walked past Jin-suk. His face was pockmarked and his hair was messy. The man’s back was curved and a big lump was protruding from it. He staggered forward with the help of a walking stick.

This man, dressed in shabby clothes that were only fit to be called rags, was obviously a beggar.

The villagers in the village all seemed to avoid him with cold looks on their faces.

Jin-suk kept watching as the man left the village and headed into the mountains.

After taking off the connection tool, Jin-suk stepped out of the capsule, raised his arms and stretched.

After he stretched his body which had become stiff after a night in the same position, looked at the connection for World of Masks.

That game was the best. The reality of the world, the reactions of the NPCs and the blood and guts which behaved as they should.

It seemed that there really was no reason for him to hunt in back alleys anymore. Now all he needed to do was level up so he could hunt humanoid monsters or even other humans.

Jin-suk carefully placed the device on the table before checking his watch. It was 6:00 in the morning.

While enjoying the game, he had ended up staying up all night.

Thinking that he would be dead tired, Jin-suk suddenly realised something about his current condition.

‘Shouldn’t I be tired?’

Even though he had played the whole night, he did not feel any fatigue at all.

No rather, his mind was energized as if he’d just had a good night’s sleep.

‘Well, it’s good if I’m not tired.’

While muttering about the Devil’s magic, Jin-suk headed to the bathroom. The game didn’t feed him, so he still had to work today.

Jin-suk received a phone call from the police while he was organizing the nutritional supplements he’d received that day.

“Is this Mr. Kim Jin-suk?”

“Yes. This is he.”

“Ah! Mr. Jin-suk. I’m brother Han Sang-tae. I was the detective who spoke to you regarding the attempted rape by those bastards a few days ago.”

Ahh. That heavy smoker detective. The sight of the detective squatting outside the station smoking with a happy expression soon came to Jin-suk’s mind.

“Yes. I remember. But what is it that you need?”

At this time, Jin-suk’s body was a little stiff with tension. Just as he’d started playing the World of Masks which was an illegal game, he received a call from the police.

“The victim asked for Mr. Jin-suk’s contact information. I don’t think it is a problem since it is the victim who wants to thank you and not the perpetrator, but I still need to check first.”

His tense body immediately relaxed.

However if it was possible for them to know that he’d just started playing the game and arrested him, then the World of Masks game would have been wiped out a long time ago.

“Well, I just did what anyone would do.”

“Well. The victim doesn’t think so. To be honest with you, there are not many people who would do the same thing nowadays. Even if you saved a drowning man, instead of giving you a reward, they might ask for more help instead.”

Come to think of it, that was true. Jin-suk had saved two robbery victims and three sexual assault victims before but this was the first person who had asked for his contact information to properly thank him.

Suddenly Jin-suk remembered the woman.

The woman who had been crying bitterly and trying to cover her body with her torn clothes was a great beauty.

So it seemed okay to accept it this once.

“Then it’s fine.”

“Okay. So I can give her this number?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

He hung up the phone after saying that he had to work.

After he put his smartphone back into his pocket, Jin-suk continued to organize the nutritional supplements and then put a bag of fertilizer that had also arrived, in the storage room at the back.

Surprisingly, a flower shop was a place with a high requirement for manual labor.

With a groan, he put his hand on his back and stretched.

A cracking sound was heard from his waist.

He was wondering if he should go back to the dojo that he had stopped after his parents died, when his phone rang again.

“Hello?”

Now that he had finished his work, he felt like he should take a smoke break, so as he answered the phone, he began looking for cigarettes and a lighter.

He remembered that he’d thrown them somewhere when he walked into the store in the morning. A soft voice sounded in his ear.

“Is this the number for Mr. Kim Jin-suk?”

“Yes. I’m Kim Jin-suk.”

‘Ah. Found them.’

While listening to the voice that was hesitating on the phone, Jin-suk began to walk to the entrance of the store after finding the cigarettes and lighter in the pocket of his coat.

“Ah! I-, thank you for what you did a few days ago!”

Huh?

Jin-suk, who was surprised at the sudden shout, made an ‘Ah!’ sound as a thought came to his mind.

This must be the woman who he had saved a few days ago that wanted to call to say thank you.

“Ah. It’s you from a few days ago.”

“Yes. My name is Han Yu-rin. I’m really grateful for what you did.”

“Thanks. I did what I had to.”

Jin-suk was a man of dignity.

In addition to the fact that she truly had no reason to be grateful since he had only done it to satisfy his desire to hunt in the first place, what was important was that the one who was thanking him now was a great beauty.

He spoke with a moderate amount of humility, but she didn’t agree with that.

“No. Not at all. I don’t want to imagine what would’ve happened if it wasn’t for Mr. Kim Jin-suk…”

A blurry image of that scene came to his mind. However he didn’t think about it much.

Instead he clicked his tongue as he looked at the cigarette box.

‘Damn it. It’s Mast.’

He frowned unconsciously. Although he was an ordinary smoker, Jin-suk really hated using Mast.

“Well my parents would like to thank you with a meal together. Do you have time?”

“No. You don’t need to do that. It’s really okay.”

“It’s because we’re not okay. Please, I beg you.”

Since she spoke like that, it would be a bad thing for him to refuse.

Honestly, he didn’t really want to meet her parents, but he decided to bear with it because of her beauty.

Afterall, Jin-suk was a man.

In this situation he couldn’t help but imagine himself getting involved with such a gorgeous woman.

In the first place, he was reluctant to meet the woman’s parents because of his instincts, but that was settled.

Eventually they were able to match schedules and made an appointment to meet for the meal in a month.